Development of 35 novel microsatellite markers for the two-band anemonefish Amphiprion bicinctus

Abstract

To investigate population genetic patterns of the anemonefish Amphiprion bicinctus in the Red Sea, we isolated and characterized 35 microsatellite loci using 454-sequencing. Microsatellite sequences were identified using the Tandem Repeats Finder program. The 35 loci were tested on 80 individuals sampled from two spatially separated populations along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast. We found a mean of 10. 9 alleles per locus and observed levels of heterozygosity ranged from 0. 4 to 0. 98. All loci were polymorphic, none deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, no linkage disequilibrium was observed and there was no evidence for -alleles in both populations. The markers reported here constitute the first specific set for this species, and they are expected to contribute to future studies of connectivity in the Red Sea region. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.